Scout Rifle Project (Lots of Pictures)

[OneSpeed]

I've been toying around with the idea of abuilding a scout rifle ever since I've started airsoft. It's always been quite an interesting idea and I've never had the funds or the tools to commit to building one, luckily over the two years of playing the sport I've gained some experience and am now ready to build one.

Just for reference, based off Jeff Cooper's scout rifle criteria, the rifle must be:

- Unloaded with accessories 6.6 - 7 lbs
- Length of 1 metre or less
- Has a forward mounted low magnification long eye relief scope
- Has ghost ring type iron sights
- Typically chambers .308 Winchester/ 7.62x51mm NATO

These are the Parts I will be starting out with:

- Modify MOD24 Spring Sniper Rifle
- NcStar Pistolero Series Pistol & Long Eye Scope
- Modify M110 Upgrade Spring
- ACTION Type96 Stainless Steel Cylinder Head
- Tokyo Marui Mount Base for VSR-10
- Deep Fire Stainless Steel 6.04mm Barre AEG (363mm)
- Laylax PSS2 Type96 Silent Damper Sorbo Pads

I decided to start with the Modify MOD24 as a base as I liked the thicker stock and the rifle is relatively good in stock form.


At this point the Order for the rifle was just made meaning two weeks until it would actually get here yet my parts have already come in, so I decided to smooth out the airflow in the aftermarket cylinder head with a drill and a dremel in anticipation for my exciting build.


The rifle finally came in and at this point, I had no idea where to start. I took the rifle apart, checked out the internals and downgraded the spring. As someone completely new to doing any type of modification work externally I thought that dealing with mounting a rail on the barrel would be the easiest task to complete. The inside of the rail was hollow meaning I would have to fill it out somehow. I taped off the barrel using some masking and electrical tape and pressed some putty into the bottom of the rail, then firmly pressing it onto the taped surface of the barrel so that it would match the contour. I allowed the putty to dry for 4 hours and took it off along with the tape.


After it was dried I measured the area of where the rail would sit on the barrel and sanded off the paint, I taped around the contact area, mixed up some JB weld and put some on the barrel as well as the bottom of the rail. I made sure it was even using a leveler and taped it to the barrel allowing it to cure for 24 hours.

With the scope mounted its not looking too bad so far!


The M24 comes in at 110 cm, which isn't that long, but for a scout rifle it will not do. I Measured off about 12 cm from the tip so that I would be around the length of the new M4 AEG inner barrel plus a bit of extra space for reassurance. I removed the barrel of the rifle and started sawing.

I filed down the cut tip until it was relatively smooth.

Now you may be wondering what I am going to do with that large hold now that the barrel is cut, well I managed to get a friend who works in a metal shop to make a little barrel cap for me. Here is my diagram, I suck at drawing circles and making diagrams but hey, I tried.


Put it all back together and now it's really starting to take shape! Measuring in at 98cm its right within the specifications.


Since the beginning of this build, I've been looking for a pair of irons sights and so far I have been getting no luck other than the real steel onces that cost upwards of 100 dollars. :banghead: After weeks of useless searching I decided to make my own rear sight out of a M4 carry handle. I sawed off the threaded part on the bottom and filed it until it was flat, I drew the contour of the receiver onto it and proceed to dremel out the material.

Put some sandpaper on the reciever and did some more sanding to match it up a bit better

Finally I drilled a hole that would match up with one of the pre-existing holes.

Modified one of the screws to fit the shorter length.


It fits nice and snug and with the rear sights it's really starting to take shape!


I am running into a problem right now, It seems that my bucking seal with the nozzle is very poor and is lowering my FPS dramatically right now, are there any easy fixes to this?

I'll keep all of you updated!

[OneSpeed]

Well since the last post I've updated the rifle a bit.

I've finally managed to sourced out a front sight, and have started working on getting it installed. I first sanded it down so that it would conform to the contour of the barrel


I drilled a hole and tapped it for the screw that goes along with the front sight.


This is what it looks like installed, not too bad of a job if you ask me. The front sight overhangs a bit in anticipation for the custom barrel cap I have coming in that will protrude a bit past the barrel currently.


It looks pretty good through the rear sight doesn't it! I'm pretty satisfied with it.


Probably the easiest mod (not really even a mod) I've done so far is this: inserting memory foam into all the empty spaces in the stock to reduce sound of the rifle firing.



Looks pretty good to me so far!


Well that's it for now, I'm just waiting on the barrel cap that's being machined for me to come in, and to do a shrink tube mod on the nozzle.

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Any tips, or criticism or questions. Sadly no one has replied yet.

[freshblake]

I can vouch for the heat shrink mod. Be sure to use a dab of CA glue to secure it. You should look up anti blow by rings and have your friend machine you a set of those. Helps with consistency and you wouldn't need the heat shrink mod.

[Strelok]

Is there a reason your sights so far left?

[OneSpeed]

Do you mean the rear sight? At the point I took that picture I cleaned out the metal shavings in the sight while it was all the way left. And I never took to the time to sight it in yet.

[L473ncy]

Just a critique, if you're going to go for it might as well go all the way, instead of the memory foam, is there some sort of product you could use that you spray on to fill the gaps? Similar to the "purple spray foam" that insulation people use for new homes or the "Great Stuff" that comes in cans at Home Depot? I don't know how good it is for sound deadening but it might fill up the void spaces better than memory foam (but note that it does make a mess and also once you open the can you better use it all up because it's basically one time use).

[Enthusiast]

Memory foam is not permanent, that a big advantage if you want to mod / repair.

Nice job and nice concept.